The word 'signification' is correct and usable in written English.
It means the meaning or interpretation of something. One can use it in formal writing, literature, or in discussions about language and its usage. Example: The signification of the phrase "break a leg" is an idiom used to wish someone good luck in a performance or event.
But what is signification?
The most basic such notion is "signification".
The signification is embodied" (SB, 211).
Albert defines signification by representation.
Bradwardine's theory is built around a theory of truth, which in turn depends on a conception of signification, described by Spade as an "adverbial" theory of propositional signification.
6. See Section 2 for the notion of a concept's or predicate's signification.
But whereas for Bradwardine insolubles also signify otherwise than is the case, Swyneshed does not seem to have a notion of any additional signification of a proposition.
Where Austin does articulate his methodology and objective, it is a fairly traditional one: he "endeavored to resolve a law (taken with the largest signification which can be given to that term properly) into the necessary and essential elements of which it is composed" (Austin 1832: Lecture V, p. 117).
This signification of historical phenomena entails the sense in which historical knowledge and reality are explained by Dilthey: "The historical consciousness of the finitude of every historical phenomenon, every human or social state, of the relativity of every sort of belief, is the last step toward the liberation of man.
The concept of lakṣaṇā ("secondary signification function") is invoked in a situation where the primary meaning of an utterance does not appear to make sense in view of the intention behind the utterance, and hence one looks for a secondary meaning.
